Medical brigade returns to Cuba from the United Arab Emirates

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 4 (ACN) After three months of facing the COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates, a part of the Henry Reeve medical brigade returned to Cuba this Monday through the José Martí International Airport in Havana.

The 45 collaborators who returned on Monday, out of the 110 that make up the brigade, worked together with professionals from that country in four hospitals, including three field institutions in the Emirates of Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, and the Sheikhalifa General Hospital in the Emirate of Ajman.
Manuel Marrero Cruz, Prime Minister, highlighted -via videoconference- the quality of the specialists' work, which earned him the praise and recognition of the citizens and the government of that Middle Eastern nation.

He highlighted that the group, made up of graduates in Nursing and Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, were placed in four of the seven Emirates of the country, and supported the implementation of field hospitals and intensive therapy rooms, dedicated to the care of patients with COVID-19.

They performed 104,31 nursing procedures and rehabilitated more than 22,000 patients.

The brigade also participated in nearly 25,874 educational activities.

Reyna Cristal Rodríguez, a nurse with more than 30 years of experience, told the Cuban News Agency that she was proud to have been part of this group of professionals who assisted seriously ill COVID-19 patients in therapy.

The specialist said that when they arrived in the country, the situation was difficult due to the increase in the number of cases and the high number of patients in serious and critical condition, but before leaving for Cuba, the situation had been reversed.

The most gratifying part of our work was to see people who had been in serious condition recovering, grateful to the Cuban doctors and remembering Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, said the nurse.

A total of 57 Cuban medical brigades have served in other countries since the beginning of the health emergency.